Trulite to Launch Manufacturing Pilot Program in South Carolina

Houston-based Trulite will start producing fuel cell batteries used in portable generators at a business incubator on Midlands Technical College in Columbia, South Carolina.

Trulite will employ nine in what is now a pilot program. Full-scale manufacturing could start with 30 employees in a year, the company said. Trulite also plans to work with the University of South Carolina (USC) to develop and market the generator, which eventually could be sold at home centers.

Columbia and USC have been working for five years to attract hydrogen fuel-cell research and business to the region. Columbia has at least six other fuel cell research firms and component makers that employ a total of 14, according to data from EngenuitySC, a public-private partnership to promote the area's knowledge-based economy.

A hydrogen fueling station, the only publicly accessible one in the Southeast outside Florida, is expected to be running at Huger and Laurel streets in March when the National Hydrogen Association annual conference comes to Columbia. A fuel-cell powered commuter bus is expected to arrive in Columbia early next year.

Trulite chose South Carolina over California, Connecticut, Ohio and North Carolina — all of which also want to boost their share of hydrogen research and manufacturing, according to Trulite chief operating officer Ken Pearson.

Trulite will receive half of the $1.5 million that will fund the manufacturing project from state and local governments, and business groups. The company is putting up the rest, Pearson said.

This spring, Trulite also won $96,000 in the Greater Columbia Fuel Cell Challenge. The money will be used to build 12 generators and 500 batteries with some going to the city of Columbia, USC and Fort Jackson by year's end.

The generators can last up to eight hours on two fuel cell batteries and have four outlets to run or charge laptops, radios and cell phones.

The generators cost $2,495, while the batteries are $24.95 each. They are not yet available commercially, but Pearson said that's the plan in the next few years.  The company wants to raise $15 million to meet that goal. Trulite recently received $1.5 million from a Houston business development company.

So far, Trulite has supplied 24 generators to customers.

And Trulite could move its headquarters to Columbia, Pearson said. The company might go to Salt Lake City, where it has another research operation and does some manufacturing.

Source: Fuel Cell Today